diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ef4f63d92..590cc6372 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,12 +4,21 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
-## [3.1.0]
+## [4.0.0-alpha]
+
+Replaces the yanked `3.1.0` due to issues with supporting *both* Rust versions < `1.70` 
+and >= `1.70`.
+
+If you intend to use `cargo-contract` with Rust >= `1.70`, and deploy to a node with a
+version of `pallet-contracts` at least `polkadot-1.0.0`, then this is the release to use.
+
+If you still want to compile with `1.69` and target an older version of `pallet-contracts`
+then use the previous `3.0.1` release.
 
 **Notable changes:**
-  - Verifiable builds inside a docker container - [#1148](https://github.com/paritytech/cargo-contract/pull/1148)
-  - Extrinsics extracted to separate crate - [#1181](https://github.com/paritytech/cargo-contract/pull/1181)
-  - Fix building contracts with Rust >= 1.70: enable `sign_ext` Wasm opcode - [#1189](https://github.com/paritytech/cargo-contract/pull/1189)
+- Verifiable builds inside a docker container - [#1148](https://github.com/paritytech/cargo-contract/pull/1148)
+- Extrinsics extracted to separate crate - [#1181](https://github.com/paritytech/cargo-contract/pull/1181)
+- Fix building contracts with Rust >= 1.70: enable `sign_ext` Wasm opcode - [#1189](https://github.com/paritytech/cargo-contract/pull/1189)
 
 ### Added
 - Standardised verifiable builds - [#1148](https://github.com/paritytech/cargo-contract/pull/1148)
@@ -27,6 +36,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - Upgrade wasm-opt to 0.113 - [#1188](https://github.com/paritytech/cargo-contract/pull/1188)
 - Update substrate dependencies - [#1149](https://github.com/paritytech/cargo-contract/pull/1149)
 - Make output format of cargo contract info consistent with other subcommands - [#1120](https://github.com/paritytech/cargo-contract/pull/1120)
+- set minimum supported `rust-version` to `1.70` - [#1241](https://github.com/paritytech/cargo-contract/pull/1241)
+- `[extrinsics]` update metadata to `substrate-contracts-node 0.29` - [#1242](https://github.com/paritytech/cargo-contract/pull/1242)
 
 ### Fixed
 - Configure tty output correctly - [#1209](https://github.com/paritytech/cargo-contract/pull/1209)
@@ -35,6 +46,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - Dry-run result output improvements - [#1123](https://github.com/paritytech/cargo-contract/pull/1123)
 - feat: use `CARGO_ENCODED_RUSTFLAGS` instead of `RUSTFLAGS` - [#1124](https://github.com/paritytech/cargo-contract/pull/1124)
 
+## [3.1.0] **YANKED**
+
 ## [3.0.1]
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 189956817..50d254a34 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -743,7 +743,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "cargo-contract"
-version = "3.1.0"
+version = "4.0.0-alpha"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "assert_cmd",
@@ -952,7 +952,7 @@ checksum = "21a53c0a4d288377e7415b53dcfc3c04da5cdc2cc95c8d5ac178b58f0b861ad6"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "contract-build"
-version = "3.1.0"
+version = "4.0.0-alpha"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "blake2",
@@ -992,7 +992,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "contract-extrinsics"
-version = "3.1.0"
+version = "4.0.0-alpha"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "clap",
@@ -1020,7 +1020,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "contract-metadata"
-version = "3.1.0"
+version = "4.0.0-alpha"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "impl-serde",
@@ -1033,7 +1033,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "contract-transcode"
-version = "3.1.0"
+version = "4.0.0-alpha"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "assert_matches",
diff --git a/crates/build/Cargo.toml b/crates/build/Cargo.toml
index 54bd9abc5..7997ba53c 100644
--- a/crates/build/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/build/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "contract-build"
-version = "3.1.0"
+version = "4.0.0-alpha"
 authors = ["Parity Technologies <admin@parity.io>"]
 edition = "2021"
 
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ tokio-stream = "0.1"
 bollard = "0.14"
 crossterm = "0.26.1"
 
-contract-metadata = { version = "3.1.0", path = "../metadata" }
+contract-metadata = { version = "4.0.0-alpha", path = "../metadata" }
 
 [target.'cfg(unix)'.dependencies]
 users = "0.11"
diff --git a/crates/cargo-contract/Cargo.toml b/crates/cargo-contract/Cargo.toml
index e87f8beca..8f129dc51 100644
--- a/crates/cargo-contract/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/cargo-contract/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "cargo-contract"
-version = "3.1.0"
+version = "4.0.0-alpha"
 authors = ["Parity Technologies <admin@parity.io>"]
 build = "build.rs"
 edition = "2021"
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@ include = [
 ]
 
 [dependencies]
-contract-build = { version = "3.1.0", path = "../build" }
-contract-extrinsics = { version = "3.1.0", path = "../extrinsics" }
-contract-transcode = { version = "3.1.0", path = "../transcode" }
+contract-build = { version = "4.0.0-alpha", path = "../build" }
+contract-extrinsics = { version = "4.0.0-alpha", path = "../extrinsics" }
+contract-transcode = { version = "4.0.0-alpha", path = "../transcode" }
 
 anyhow = "1.0.72"
 clap = { version = "4.3.19", features = ["derive", "env"] }
diff --git a/crates/extrinsics/Cargo.toml b/crates/extrinsics/Cargo.toml
index 1c67e236b..e1143e00b 100644
--- a/crates/extrinsics/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/extrinsics/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "contract-extrinsics"
-version = "3.1.0"
+version = "4.0.0-alpha"
 authors = ["Parity Technologies <admin@parity.io>"]
 edition = "2021"
 rust-version = "1.70"
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@ keywords = ["wasm", "parity", "webassembly", "blockchain", "edsl"]
 include = ["Cargo.toml", "*.rs", "LICENSE", "src/**/*.scale",]
 
 [dependencies]
-contract-build = { version = "3.1.0", path = "../build" }
-contract-metadata = { version = "3.1.0", path = "../metadata" }
-contract-transcode = { version = "3.1.0", path = "../transcode" }
+contract-build = { version = "4.0.0-alpha", path = "../build" }
+contract-metadata = { version = "4.0.0-alpha", path = "../metadata" }
+contract-transcode = { version = "4.0.0-alpha", path = "../transcode" }
 
 anyhow = "1.0.72"
 clap = { version = "4.3.19", features = ["derive", "env"] }
diff --git a/crates/metadata/Cargo.toml b/crates/metadata/Cargo.toml
index db09e7913..6930c0748 100644
--- a/crates/metadata/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/metadata/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "contract-metadata"
-version = "3.1.0"
+version = "4.0.0-alpha"
 authors = ["Parity Technologies <admin@parity.io>"]
 edition = "2021"
 
diff --git a/crates/transcode/Cargo.toml b/crates/transcode/Cargo.toml
index db41c7eb6..71fc70aab 100644
--- a/crates/transcode/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/transcode/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "contract-transcode"
-version = "3.1.0"
+version = "4.0.0-alpha"
 authors = ["Parity Technologies <admin@parity.io>"]
 edition = "2021"
 
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ path = "src/lib.rs"
 anyhow = "1.0.72"
 base58 = { version = "0.2.0" }
 blake2 = { version = "0.10.4", default-features = false }
-contract-metadata = { version = "3.1.0", path = "../metadata" }
+contract-metadata = { version = "4.0.0-alpha", path = "../metadata" }
 escape8259 = "0.5.2"
 hex = "0.4.3"
 indexmap = "2.0.0"